A Study on the Temporal Agenda Effects of Media and the Public in the Context of Online Agenda-Setting

With the development of digital technology and the proliferation of new media, the agenda-setting power of traditional media has gradually weakened, making online agenda-setting a research hotspot. Using the flood incident in Zhuozhou, Hebei Province as a case study, this paper employs time-series analysis to examine the temporal characteristics and causal relationships among traditional media, social media, and public agendas during emergencies. Data sourced from Weibo and the Wises News database were cleaned and analyzed. Results indicate: public agenda exerts stronger influence on social media during the early stages of an event, while traditional media gradually takes the lead in the middle and later stages; traditional media's agenda-setting power over social media follows a similar pattern. Based on these findings, this study recommends leveraging social media's real-time dissemination advantages during emergencies while strengthening traditional media's guiding role in the middle and later stages to calm public sentiment and stabilize public opinion. This research provides new empirical support and methodological innovation for agenda-setting theory.